The Trademark Blog reports today that New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has sued Yahoo! for its allegedly unauthorized use of his likeness, image and identity in its advertisements and promotions for Yahoo’s Fantasy Football program. The complaint, filed November 20 in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California by Mr. Brady’s company, TEB Capital Management, LLC, alleges that the following advertisement excerpt ran in Sports Illustrated without Mr. Brady’s permission:
Mr. Brady allegedly is featured in the top center of the ad.
This, plaintiff contends, constitutes a false endorsement under 15 U.S.C. Sec. 1125; violates California’s right of publicity statute, Cal Civ. Code Sec. 3344.1; violates Mr. Brady’s common law right of publicity; and constitutes unjust enrichment. Plaintiff also contends that Yahoo! ran banner ads on its Sports web pages featuring Mr. Brady’s likeness, image and identity without his permission. Plaintiff seeks damages, as well as a preliminary and permanent injunction.
Mr. Brady apparently is not a rookie when it comes to his publicity rights. In 2005, he reportedly sued General Motors for using his image in two Cadillac print ads after its license to do so had expired.
Thanks to The Smoking Gun for posting a copy of the complaint.